A blog about food, wine, photography, travel, tech, pop culture, and social media...with a little geek thrown in for flavor.
I love to cook, collect and try new recipes. I'm always in search of the perfect meal, the perfect glass of wine, the perfect cup of coffee. Some people eat to live...but I live to eat.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
But honestly, a lot of the truly good points can be applied to starting any new career or starting any new business. Some of these points are things that I have applied in my yawn-inducing-office career which involves a lot of customer service.
I’ll list a few that I am applying to my attitude toward our band and to a lesser degree, my artwork:
- Create goals, and write them down. It sounds really corny, but if you write your goals down, you’re more likely to go after them, and remember them. It’s purely psychological, but sometimes you need that extra boost. It also helps to state your goals out loud, and/or discuss them with people you trust.
- Do something that gets you closer to your goals daily. I apply my personal de-stresser to this point… not every day has to be a miricle. That means that you can do something small, like reply to an email, or update your band’s facebook or something… or you can write a new song, or get yourself booked somewhere.
- Strive to be different. If you’re starting a business or you’re in a band, you want to stand out in people’s minds. You have to go the extra mental-mile to come up with stuff that will differentiate you from the other businesses or musical acts that people have heard of already.
- Marketing is important, so use it. If you have a great sound, great show, great product or service, and nobody knows about it, you might as well suck. People have to know about what it is you have to offer. Don’t be afraid to talk about it. When you do talk about your band or business, speak with confidence. Don’t be afraid to be passionate… but don’t be a jerk, either. Respect other people’s time and boundaries.
- BE PROFESSIONAL. Oh my gosh, this is my number one personal pet peeve. Artists who are not professional really get my goat. This doesn’t mean you have to act like a tool in a suit, or be fake. Be you. But for crying out loud, carry yourself as if this is already your job if you want it to be a job. Be on time. Return phone calls. Respond in a timely fashion to emails. Be respectful to venues. Tip bartenders. Be respectful to your fellow artists. Be clear with what your expectations are. Adhere to contracts to the letter (Verbal or written), and demand the same of people you work with. And please remember, it’s not what you say, it’s absolutely how you say it.
This is the book I bought: Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook
